Ladder web of venetian blinds



Nov. 6, 1934. G. F. FRENCH 1,980,048

LADDER WEB 0F VENETIAN BLINDS Filed May 11. 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet l NOV. 6, 1934. FRENCH 1,980,048

LADDER WEB OF VENETIAN BLINDS Filed May 11, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 6, 1934. G. F. FRENCH LADDER WEB OF VENETIAN BLINDS Filed May 11, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Nov 6, 1934.

G. F. FRENCH LADDER WEB OF VENETIAN BLINDS Filed May 11, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Nov. 6, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application May 11, 1932, Serial No. 610,565 In Great Britain June 16, 1931 6 Claims.

Venetian blind ladder web as it comes from the loom is wound into reels, each reel containing about 72 yards. The reeling of the web-is usually done in a power-driven machine comprising a half-inch spindle, with fast and loose pulleys, and with discs to form the sides of. the channel in which the web is reeled. The end of the web is secured to the spindle and the web is tightly boiled as the spindle is rotated.

The ladder web is composed of two outer thick- {nesses (usually about 1 /2" wide) joined at intervals by pairs of inner and narrow cross-tapes (usually wide), the cross-tapes, lying side by side (oiT-set), being interwoven with the outer thicknesses in sandwich form. To make the web marketable, certain superfluous weftless joining threads have to be cut away, and in order to make the cutting easy, the web is first wound into a reel in the manner described, and after cutting, the web is usually unwound and rewound, the second winding being on to a small 1 wood centre block, which remains in the reel.

Ladder web requires to be made and reeled so that the web when used shall support the blind laths at the proper angle and all parallel with one another, and, therefore, the reeling of the web must be such that the correct (or original) relationship between the two outer thicknesses, and between the cross-tapes and said thicknesses shall be maintained, if the whole of the web is to be usable.

Heretofore, the reeling of ladder web, as commonly practised, has not been successful in main- .taining the original relationship between the 85 outer thicknesses and the cross-tapes, for the whole length of the web, portions of the web from the inner end being distorted and permanently damaged, with consequent waste of ma- "terial. When the web is re-reeled after cutting and the earlier outside end is reeled on the spindle, portions (several yards) of the web of both ends get permanently damaged.

, The object of this invention is to reel (or rereel) ladder web without damage to any portion of its entire length and thus avoid waste.

According tothe invention, instead of reeling the web upon a relatively small centre block, it is reeled upon a relatively large block or ring, both prior to and after cutting the superfluous threads, the diameter of the block or ring being equivalent to the size of coil at which, using the spindle, the thicknesses of the web cease to coil in other than a regular (non-distorted) relationship.

RUSSUED In one example of the invention, a centre block of 5" diameter and 1 /2" wide is used.

With such enlarged block, it is found that any length of web can be reeled without any portion being damaged.

An explanation of the even reeling (and in determination of the relatively large diameter of block to be used), is that the outer and inner thicknesses of the web, while free to stretch or contract, are only required to do so to such a small degree that relative displacement of the two thicknessesis prevented by the friction between them, thus producing the even reeling referred to, and the said stretch or contraction required is not in excess of the limit of elasticity of the material and does not therefore cause permanent change in length.

The diameter of the centre block or ring may vary with the thickness or quality of the ladder web, which factors determine the relative movement and friction between the said thicknesses. The 5" block is suitable for a ladder tape which winds on about 16 coils per inch radius.

The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where- Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of a ladder web reeled according to the invention, and an end view of reeling apparatus used in reeling the web. 85

Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the example of reeling apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side view.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional elevation.

Fig. 5 is aplan of a machine embodying a further example of reeling apparatus and suitable for carrying out the improved reeling operation.

Fig. 6 is a side or edge view of a short length of Venetian blind latter web.

Fig. '7 is a side view of a modification.

Figs. 8 and 9 are cross sections of further modifications.

As shown in Fig. 6, a ladder web consists of two outer broad tapes a, b, and a series of intermediate narrow cross-tapes c 0 the cross-tapes c 100 lying near to one edge of the tapes a, b and the cross-tapes c lying near to the opposite edge of the tapes a, b. 1

In reeling the ladder according to the ordinary method one end of the web is attached to a small 105 diameter wood block and when the desired length is reeled the block and the reeled web are removed from the reeling mechanism and the web is ready to be packed for storage or shipment and ultimate sale. Owing to the tension on the outer tape be- 110 ing greater than the tension on the inner tape due to the diiference in circumference of the reeled web the tape is puckered or rucked. The present invention which is designed to overcome this puckering or rucking consists in reeling the weight on a roller or ring of a diameter corresponding to the diameter at which the tension of the tapes a, b due to reeling, is more or less equal, or the outer tape does not get stretched beyond its capacity to regain such stretch when the reel is unwound.

In the drawings (Figs. 1 and 2), the roller or ring is in the form of an annular cardboard or like ring 1, which is equal in length to the width of the web, and is mounted sleeve-fashion on a two-part annular block 9. One, the larger, part of the block is mounted on the machine spindle e, and the other and smaller part is held to the larger part by spindles g slidably fitting holes in and engaging springs 9 within the said larger part. The opposed surfaces of said parts of the block are preferably metal faced. Attached to the disk 21., which closes in the block and web during the reeling'operation, is a wedge-like metal blade 1,

which, on the disc being placed on the spindle, passes between the two parts of the block 9' and causes the smaller'part to move radially and bind upon the interior of the ring I, and thereby firmly hold the same to the block. The disc h is held to the spindle e by a nut, or cottar.

The ladder web to be reeled is tacked at one end to the ring 1 and the reeling proceeds in the usual manner as the spindle, block and ring rotate, but without any rucking of any part of the inner tape b.

In Figs. 3, 4 and 5, a machine is shown designed to facilitate the operations of placing the ring f on the block g, separating the parts of the block to fix the ring, and guiding the tape as it is reeled.

Such machine comprises a pair of frames 7 supporting a hollow power shaft k fitted with fast and loose pulleys 1 l and with a large metal disc m. Slidably mounted in the shaft 70 is a spindle n, which extends at each end beyond the ends of the shaft. Said spindle, and the bore of the shaft, are rectangular in cross section at their ends, and the spindle, whilst free to slide endwise, is rotated 'by the shaft, at one end the spindle is operably.

coupled with a hand lever 0 through collars p, and at its other end the spindle is of wedge shape, the wider part being further from the central part of the spindle, see Fig. 4. By moving the hand-lever o in one direction, the spindle draws the bar q towards the machine and separates the two parts of the block 9 surrounding the bar, which thereby engage the ring f to hold the same to the bar.

A broad, plate-like hand-lever r is pivoted at one end to the machine frame, and is adapted, in one position, to lie alongside the ring I and block 9 and take the place of the removable disc aforesaid. When raised to the dotted position (see Fig. 3), thelever 1- allows of the ring and reel being removed from the machine.

A sliding belt-shifter s is provided for movi the driving belt on to and ofi the fast and loose pulleys l l and such belt-shifter is operated by a spring-balanced foot-treadle (not shown). The machine will usually be mounted on a bench, and the foot-treadle will be situated at the foot of the bench.

By employing the lever r, in place of the removable disc, the operator can more readily and rapidly control the various operations necessary to carry out the reeling of the ladder web.

To guide the web as it is being reeled, ahinged slot through whichthe web passes, see Figs. 3

and 4, and by which the reel is consolidated as the reeling proceeds.

Thecorrect coiling of the web may be assisted by passing the web around another roller preceding the reeling block, see Fig.3, the web being taken half way around the roller to give it an initial reverse'curvature, which helps to negative any displacement in reeling. Y

The ring I may be replaced by a sheet metal cylindrical box a with removable ends 11- see Figs. 8 and 9, so that after use as a core for the reel, the box may be usedfor other purposes. The end of the ladder web will be fixed to the box by split pins passing through holes in the periphery of the box, or by the end of the web being made to loop around the box.

What I claim is:

1. The process of reeling Venetian blind ladder web or the like having two similar broad main tapes and provided with inter-connecting crosstapes between the main tapes at intervals in its length, wherein the reeling is commenced on a diameter of reel at which the difference in length 100 of the two main tapes of the web for any angle ofv arc is within the elastic limit of the web, whereby the web may be reeled and rereeled without permanent distortion of the parts of the web, and the parts of the web when the latter is removed for use, will automatically resume their normal initial relative positions.

2. An apparatus for reeling Venetian blind ladder web, comprising a power shaft, a pair of machine frames forming bearings for said shaft, a disc mounted on and rotating with said shaft, a circular expandible reeling block carried by and rotating with said shaft, said block being composed of two segments with means to yieldingly draw said segments together, an open-ended sleeve surrounding the block, and a wedge memher also carried by the shaft in the rotation thereof and passing between the segments of the block to separate them and force them against the interior face of the sleeve, and a member extending across the disc in spaced relation with the same to guide the web while being reeled, as herein set forth.

3. An apparatus for reeling Venetian blind ladder web comprising a hollow power shaft, a pair of machine frames forming bearings for said shaft, a disc keyed to one end of the shaft, a spindle extending through the said shaft and projecting at each end beyond the ends of the shaft, means including an operating lever for moving the spindle e'ndwise, said spindle and the bore of the shaft at their ends being rectangular in cross section, and one end of the spindle being wedgeshape longitudinally, the wider part being furthest from the central part of the spindle, a circular expandable reeling block on said wedgeshaped end of the spindle, the block being composed of two segments, and means for holding the segments yieldingly together, an open-ended and removable sleeve surrounding the said block and normally held to the block when the latter is expanded, the expansion being effected-by the wedge-shaped part of the spindle on the latter being moved endwise, a pivot carried by one of the machine frames, a plate mounted on said pivot and normally lying across one end of said sleeve, a hook-like fitting extending from the adjacent machine frame with which said plate may engage to hold the same in position during the reeling operation, but allow said plate to be raised 150 discs having on one side a wedge-like lateral projection lying between the segments of the block and serving to separate same and firmly hold the sleeve to the block, as herein set forth.

5. An apparatus for reeling Venetian blind ladder web comprising a power shaft, a pair of machine frames forming bearings for said shaft, a disk mounted on and rotating with said shaft, a circular expanding reeling block carried by and rotating with said shaft, said block being composed of two segments and provided with means for yieldingly drawing said segments together, an

open ended sleeve surrounding the block, and a wedge member also carried by the shaft in the rotation thereof and lying between the segments of the block and movable inwardly to separate the segments of the block for firmly holding the sleeve on the block.

6. An apparatus for reeling Venetian blind ladder web comprising a power shaft, a pair of machine frames forming bearings for said shaft, a disk mounted on and rotating with said shaft, a circular expanding reeling block carried by and rotating with said shaft, said block being composed of two segments and providedwith means for yieldingly drawing said segments together, an open ended sleeve surrounding the block, a wedge member also carried by the shaft in the rotation thereof and lying between the segments of the block and movable inwardly to separate the segments of the block for firmly holding the sleeve on the block, and removable means carriedby the shaft in the rotary movement thereof and located at the outer end of the open ended sleeve and cooperating with the said disk to form a guide for the web.

GEORGE FREDERICK FRENCH. 

